Long Bailey gives Corbyn ’10 out of 10′ while insisting she’s ‘no continuity candidate’ January 7, 2020 Labour leadership contender Rebecca Long Bailey has insisted she is “not anybody’s continuity candidate” despite giving Jeremy Corbyn a 10-out-of-10 rating. Long Bailey, who this morning confirmed she was running to take the top job, told ITV Corbyn was “one of the most honest, kind, principled politicians I’ve ever met”, suggesting Labour should have had [...]
S&P says UK banks will ‘ease’ rather than ‘roar’ into 2020s January 7, 2020 US credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has predicted UK banks will “ease” rather than “roar” into the 2020s as low interest rates, technological disruption and political risks present new challenges to the sector. British lenders had a torrid 2019, with expensive misconduct charges denting their balance sheets and Brexit uncertainty casting gloom over [...]
2019 was worst year on record for UK property funds January 7, 2020 UK property funds endured the largest and most sustained withdrawals on record in 2019, with total outflows of £2.2bn, as the industry was dented by weakening sentiment over Brexit and the fallout from the M&G real estate fund suspension. The figures, which are equivalent to £1 in every £15 under management in property funds being [...]
Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill returns to House of Commons January 7, 2020 Boris Johnson’s EU withdrawal bill agreement will return to parliament today for the first of three days of scrutiny from MPs. The Brexit bill has a tight timetable of just three days of debate, before it looks to be pushed through in time for the UK to leave the EU on 31 January. Read more: [...]
Chinese yuan set for best day in six months as risk appetite returns January 7, 2020 The Chinese yuan was set for its best day in more than six months this morning after investors’ appetite for risk returned and as traders await the signing of a “phase one” trade deal between China and the US. China’s yuan – the unit of its renminbi currency – had risen 0.57 per cent to [...]
Rebecca Long Bailey pledges to ‘fight the establishment tooth and nail’ in Labour leadership bid January 7, 2020 Rebecca Long Bailey has pledged to “fight the establishment tooth and nail” as she announced her bid for the Labour leadership this morning. The shadow business secretary had been widely expected to run, and she is viewed as a continuity candidate with close links to Jeremy Corbyn. Long Bailey joins five other candidates including shadow [...]
Morrisons sales fall in ‘unusually challenging’ Christmas period January 7, 2020 Supermarket giant Morrisons has announced a drop in sales for the Christmas period amid “unusually challenging” trading conditions and “sustained” customer uncertainty. Group like-for-like sales excluding fuel fell 1.7 per cent for the 22 weeks to 5 January. Including fuel, the drop was 2.8 per cent. Total sales excluding fuel were down 1.3 per cent, [...]
Carr’s Group maintains expectations despite weaker agriculture performance January 7, 2020 Carr’s Group has upheld its performance expectations for the full year, with a weaker showing from its agriculture business offset by strength in its engineering division. In a trading update issued this morning, the Carlisle-based farming supplies firm said trading in its agriculture business had fallen behind expectations for the 18 weeks to 4 January. [...]
Want to improve the civil service? Get rid of poor performers and hire some fresh talent January 7, 2020 Dominic Cummings has, once again, taken aim at the establishment — this time the civil service. In an unorthodox job advert last week, he declared his intentions to hire “an unusual set of people” to revolutionise government. Predictably, retired grandees of the profession are up in arms. Whenever anyone calls for Whitehall reform — and [...]
Five political risk predictions for a new era January 7, 2020 As Jules Verne’s unmatchable adventure Around the World in Eighty Days so eloquently put it: “Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.” Fresh off my firm’s victorious analysis of both Brexit and the outcome of December’s British General Election, we sincerely hope that the new year continues to affirm for us Verne’s [...]